Posts tonen met het label blogging-friend. Alle posts tonen
Posts tonen met het label blogging-friend. Alle posts tonen

dinsdag 25 juni 2019

transformation

Transformation mostly takes effort and time

Last week in the garden I was checking
the leaves of the Polygonatum
(or Salomon's Seal)
which are eaten every year by caterpillars
of (not even a butterfly but) some black saw fly
and I saw this :

a bright orange ladybug
with long orange wings showing from under the shields.
He (or she) was resting on its old cocoon.

 After two and a half hour the wings were folded under
and there were vague dots appearing


Again that time later he still sat there,
but ready to go, it seamed !
(probably still resting after the hard work !)

*

Also last week I did more felting
and tried something a dear blogging friend in Germany did.

Danke schön Brigitte, du machst das so wunderbar !

This transformation from wool to felt
takes a lot of effort and time !

phase 1

phase 2 and 3

End result, still drying
(with the helping stitches still in)

Hmmmmm ... why stop at one ???

*

Today again some felting :
my "rolling" assistant (of way back)
needed some presents for his two teachers
for the end of this school year ...
(he was home with us early, because of the heatwave here in Holland !)

Well, why not try some real felting this time !
A tiny bag for a phone perhaps ???

He laid the wool himself for the first one
(and I started on the second)
Rubbing
rolling
counting

utter concentration !

And the result were two wonderful phone cases !

My phone (in plastic) in one ...
and the tiniest of toads on the other !
They still need a button for closure,
that will be next when they're dry !

*

And finally something very remarkable :
double special fundraising !!!

In Holland we have lots of water :
rivers, lakes, canals, you name it.
In winter it is good for ice skating (if it's cold enough)
and in summer for swimming.
We have a special ice skating tour in the northern part Friesland
that goes along eleven cities
and is more than 200 km long !!!

The former Olympic champion open-water-swimming
Maarten van der Weijden
(38)
tried this special eleven-cities-tour SWIMMING last year
(and "failed" after +/- 160 km)

Last Friday he started, and after almost
200 km and 70 hours of swimming
he arrived on Sunday in Leeuwarden

The last report so far was that he raised
€ 5.1 million
for cancer research !

Oh boy !
that's some fundraising !!!!!!!

(Maarten had, and was cured from cancer, when he was 19)

woensdag 20 september 2017

love, to and fro

I've already told here many times before
that the class, and blog, of Jude Hill
generated a warm, worldwide,
stitching community.

Though distances are huge
friendships were born,
love (for stitch, cloth and people)
went to and fro.


Admiration and love encouraged me
to send some bits of fabric
to Hazel ...


And today :
THIS
(with some known bits of fabric)
came sailing back to me !
(The envelope seems to have had a lot of tail wind)

A tiny delicate "ship of hope, love and peace"

Together with a wonderful card and a lovely strip
of soft blue fabric !

THANK  YOU,  HAZEL

*

Yesterday put my machine on the table to try out
something with water soluble ...


(don't know if it's a success ..... )

zaterdag 9 september 2017

September ...

September is already on it's way.
There was some sun,
there was a splash of rain ...

Nooo ... not as big a splash as this ...
this splash was made for the
(still on-going .... no we can't stop)

on-line felting class of Corinna Nitschman

But
the month started with a long-desired wish :
solar panels
Our roof faces south-west, so why not !




Happy now !
*

The postman brought a long-expected package from Germany !
Some months ago I got a proposal for a swap
from a German blogging-friend, Heidi
a special pendant for her and a handmade stoneware bowl for me.!
I send her the pendant and patiently waited.
She needed some time to make the bowl ...
bring it to the kiln ...
then it was holiday-time ...
so she send it the end of August.

Ahhhhh, had a fright when it arrived : a big hole in the package ...
but luckily Heidi had packed it safely in two cartons !!!
phew !


Isn't that a beauty ?

Love the design she made of the flowers I could choose :
Fritillaria and Snowdrops !

And with it came a piece of her solar-dyed fabric !
SO happy with it all !

THANKS  HEIDI  !!!
*

And on went the making of felted shells
(I must confess : it starts to look like an addiction ...)


Two new spiral ones and an "old" one,
and two more "normal" shells, but forgot to take a picture.

And, to unlearn, another pair of wrist warmers.


:-)


maandag 27 februari 2017

knitting

Though there is still a lot
of other projects in progress
there was a lot of knitting the last week !

I found a pattern on Ravelry
and if you knitted the shawl before March 1
money would be donated to a good cause.
Now that is kindness !

I was a bit late to start
but the pattern isn't too difficult
and well written !
It was just the right project for
e lovely soft skein of indigo dyed alpaca
that I got from Birgit

In my stash was also a bit of 
Drops Kid mohair,
just a fine combination !

Because I used a Knitpro with changeble points
I easily could use a "life line" now and then ...
(you can see it in the right picture)

so nearly there ...

And here she is after blocking !

I love how the two yarns work together !!!
*

In the meanwhile
in the garden
...




SPRING

(though today, it's raining all day long !)

zaterdag 11 februari 2017

projects, small and big

I'm not a one-thing-only person.

It might be a flaw,
not able to stick to one technique
and becoming really good at it,
but that's how it is.

So, small projects,
like the little knitting needle pouches.
I must say I got carried away,
looking in my stash for suitable fabrics :
the Kaffe Fassett ones jumped out 
"use me, use me ... "

Ah yes,
why not make a whole rainbow of pouches ???
*

Two weeks ago a St'nB friend in Rotterdam
had the most wonderful tiny
knitting project :

Of course I was immediately thinking
of our dear Bagheera ...

I finished him today and brought him to daughter.
*

Another small project was making pictures
for daughter's knitting course :

double knitting, step-by-step
*

Then there are socks again,
this time with the most wonderful wool
that my friend Birgit gave me
She is such a great dyer !!!

I have two "cakes", one for each sock.
I mixed it with some solid purple that was in my stash
(that way I can make more out of it ...  ;-)  ... !)
*

But the really BIG project isn't mine at all !
Water management
is a very important issue in our low country.
So every few years the local small waterways 
canals, ditches have to be "cleaned"

This moment the little canal
next to our garden is being cleaned ...
with something that looks like a giant
water vacuum cleaner !

(the cleaner hose)

Right at this moment, a very COLD job !




Our early little flowers are hiding under a bit of snow right now !

Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr  !